A Difference of Forty Five
by Apprentice Writer
Summary: Warriors 1 through 3, Kumatora, Duster, and Boney discuss the mysterious new Warrior and how he reminds them of a certain someone, someone that should have died.


**Basically it's just a crossover between Claymore and Mother 3. I've had it in mind for a while and so I just decided to do a little one shot for it.**

* * *

In the end, someone always benefited from a tragedy. No matter how awful or how many lives were lost, someone gains something. It might be tiny, like the fame for writing a song in tribute to the incident, or it might be big, like getting promotion because your old boss died. And Kumatora could certainly say that she benefitted from this one.

Of course, it didn't make up for all the comrades in arms she lost. Doria and Ionia had practically raised her, and yet she ended up losing them. Sometimes she wondered if they would be proud of her now. She had certainly gained a lot of prestige since they'd died. When they were alive, she was just "Princess" Kumatora, the loud mouthed Number 7. Now she was Kumatora, the still loud mouthed, but much more justified in being so thinks to her status, Number 1 of the half-Yoma Warriors.

Nobody really talked about how it happened. One day, during a top secret mission, the Number 1 of the time, "Commander" Claus, Awakened and became a new Abyssal One, pretty much decimated what was left of the Top Ten after their fight with the Abyssal One of the North. Now they had three to worry about, Giygas Porky and Claus, instead of just the original two.

Kumatora wouldn't know any of this is not for the fact that she had been in the Top Ten at the time. She would likely be among the dead if not for the fact she was tasked with bringing the injured Number 9, Duster, out of the area. He had lost one of his legs during the conflict, and though he had managed to regrow one, it would never be more than human strength. Claus had deemed him ill fit for battle and ordered Kumatora to help him flee. To be honest, though, Kumatora had to feeling that he was trying to get people out of the area. Maybe he knew he was going to Awaken from the start.

Regardless, it left the Organization down several of its best Warriors. Kumatora and Duster were the only remaining members of the original Top Ten, and as such were promoted to the ranks of Numbers 1 and 2, if only temporarily. The loss of the previous Number 5, who also acted as the Eye that made sure no Warrior was going against the Organization, had forced the Organization to rush the production of the next Eye. The result was Boney, who looked more Yoma than human at this point. Kumatora could almost feel a little bad for him. However, for all of his appearance, his seven senses (the normal five plus Yoki perception and a unique sixth sense) were so keen that he could be said to know everything.

They were a rag tag group, the new Top Three of the Organization. Of course, Kumatora knew they wouldn't hold those positions for long. The Organization would be quick to replace them, but at this time, they couldn't stand to appear weak to their Warriors. Normally, they could stand proudly with the base of a Number 1 who was so powerful than none of the other 46 Warriors would dare to question them. However, Kumatora knew that the level of power she had wasn't that much above that of the other high ranked Warriors.

Until the time came that they could make a replacement for her, Kumatora was stuck acting out this role. She supposed it wasn't that bad. She'd finally have her name recorded in their history. The next generation never seemed to care much aside from who the past Number 1s were. It was a sad existence, fading out of memory as soon as they died. But that was the life of a half-Yoma. None of them had asked for it, but it was forced upon them. To be honest, it made Kumatora sick.

The Organization had made a very fundamental mistake in putting Kumatora, Duster, and Boney as their Top Three. None of them were too happy with the Organization and the way it ruled over the island. Normally this wouldn't matter. The Organization had crushed many rebellions in the past. However, these three were different. They all had a special talent that would allow for a smooth rebellion.

Boney simply know everything there was to know about every half-Yoma on this island, even the Awakened ones. He could feel it in his skin, smell it in the air. He knew how the others were feeling, what their strengths and weaknesses were, and even if they were sympathetic to his cause. The problem was that he had trouble communicating this, thanks to the disaster that was his vocal cords. However, Kumatora and other yoki sensitive Warriors could tell what he was trying to say, so it worked.

Duster was crafty. For a Warrior with one human leg, Duster could move fast. It was as though the injury barely affected him. However, people continuously treated him like he was nothing. He didn't hold the Number 2 spot for no reason, though. Duster knew what he was doing and he also knew how to gather information. He'd seen private records that no other Warrior had access to, thanks to the fact his adoptive father, Wes, was one of the Organization's men. The human ones, the ones that held all the power over the half-Yoma. Wes thought Duster stupid, but he couldn't be more wrong. Though the male Warrior often acted downtrodden, he'd spent most of his life honing the skills to keep up with others. Duster had always been at a disadvantage compared to others, but he'd learned to turn those disadvantages into his advantages.

If only more Warriors knew about how skilled her comrades were, Kumatora would muse. Despite their ranks, other Warriors would treat Duster and Boney like they were nothing, even when they were so skilled. She guessed it made sense, from the moment they were changed into half-Yoma it was always about stats. Yoki, strength, speed, spirit, perception, and leadership. If you didn't excel at one of these things natural, you could expect a rank under 25. If you didn't fit neatly into one of these categories, you were nothing.

Compared to her teammates, Kumatora was nothing special. She was just hard headed. She wasn't convinced by years of Organization brainwashing. She would never be. In the end, this made her one of the few Warriors capable of coming up with the idea for a rebellion.

The Top Three rarely met. Normally the Organization would only call them together if something horrible was happening, but that didn't mean they couldn't find each other on their own. Every few weeks, the trio would "accidentally" stumble upon each other. They'd discuss the goings on in the Organization and if Boney had met any new Warriors sympathetic to their cause. This meeting, however, was more sporadic, as they'd each come across the same piece of information and had to confirm it with each other.

"So," Kumatora began when the trio had met up. She was often the one to take the lead. Duster tended to not share his information unless asked and Boney was used to people assuming he couldn't communicate in any way. "Have either of you seen the new Number 47?"

"I did," Duster began. "The area they assigned him to boarders on my space. He meets the description perfectly. I've only seen him in person once, so I wasn't completely sure, but I'm almost…"

Kumatora nodded. Duster needed to be more confident in what he said, but years of having his idea undermined and his opinions silenced made him question himself. But she wasn't going to question him. He knew what he saw. And she suspected it too. It made so much sense.

"What about you Boney? Can you feel him…? Is his yoki…?"

Boney responded by communicating through his yoki. It made little sense the first time anyone spoke to him, but the three had spoken enough that Boney's yoki signals were almost like words to Kumatora.

 _I did. I could feel him. He's different. I could barely feel his yoki, he's been suppressing it, but my other senses picked up what he was hiding. It's a big yoki, bigger than yours, by a lot. He's definitely that one. Couldn't tell if he was sympathetic, though._

It would have been so much easier if Boney had known the boy before the incident. If he had, he could just confirm it by smell, but Kumatora took what she could get. Looks confirmed by Duster, and a yoki comparable with a Number 1…

"So we've been lied to again. I get how the Organization thought they could get away with this. He and Claus were always hidden away from the rest of the Warriors. They didn't even get trained with the others. Nobody would know it was him. Well, except for us." Kumatora gave a small grin. "I'm surprised that they thought they would get away with dropping him 45 places."

"He can suppress his Yoki. Besides, I'm not even sure they trained him how to fight on his own." Duster stopped himself from saying more, but he'd already incited too much of their curiosity.

"What do you mean? He was our Number 2! Of course he could fight. I mean, I didn't see him in the big battle, but…"

Duster shook his head. "I looked through his file. He and Claus were part of a special experiment. A partial Awakening experiment. It apparently only works with twins, one and hold onto the mind of the other so they can revert back. I think it's the reason why."

"Oh what the hell!" Kumatora stomped on the ground hard enough to leave a rather deep imprint. "So they tell us Awakening is bad and then force it! No wonder Claus went out of control. How could they expect him to hold his brother back? No wonder Claus…"

She trailed off. She didn't know him, but all Warriors felt a connection. Each one was torn from their families, or sold by them, and turned into monsters against their will. Once they were trained to fight, they were sent into battle again and again until they risked Awakening and were told to take their own lives before it came to that point. To a Warrior, Awakening was worse than death. It was horrifying to force someone into that. Warriors lived short, sad lives, and so they clung to the companionship of each other. Even if they'd never met before the battle, Warriors cried for each other like they'd lost a close friend.

 _Do you think they'll try to replace us with him?_ Boney's thoughts came. _If so, we'll have to move soon._

"Don't worry. They can't promote him without suspicion. Not until most of the Warriors of this generation are gone," Duster explained. He couldn't understand Boney the way Kumatora could but he was good at reading body language. "But, he's still a threat. He's strong, and if he sides with them…"

Nobody wanted to say it, but it would be bad. Twins were always equal in strength and Kumatora remembered, vaguely, the stories of the Number 1 who went rogue and killed nearly every Warrior in the Organization when they were sent to hunt her down.

"Don't worry," she said after a minute. "I'll convince him. If I can't do it with my womanly charms, I can always punch some sense into him."

It sounded like a joke, but she was serious. After a few more minutes of talk and the discussion of a backup plan, Kumatora was put in charge of trying to bring the new Number 47 to their side. With their plans in mind, the three set off on their own ways, already aware they were late for their next assignments. Regardless of her tardiness, though, Kumatora had a smile on her lips.

"After what they did to his brother," she muttered to herself. "I have no doubt Lucas would be more than willing to help us kick the Organization out onto its ass."

And with the help, she was sure they could finally reform this island into something good.


End file.
